


Hard Times, A RWBY AU

by Linkfanfiction



Series: Hard Times [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linkfanfiction/pseuds/Linkfanfiction
Summary: An angst filled AU story taking place in 2007 New York.This fic is a shelved work in progress, it is not by any means done
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: Hard Times [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897750
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

“I guess this is the place.”

The trek was over. The suitcase that held Ruby’s few belongings had survived the city’s cramped roadways. Her hands were aching and pleaded to abandon the container along the New York streets, but found it to be of no avail her fingers grew scarlet around the chipped metal handle. She wouldn’t know it until she unpacked, but her water bottle had drenched all the clothes within her bag’s confines. Even her best shirt would be thrown aside like a rag when she realized this, dreading anything to have happened to the old polaroid hidden beneath them all.

“Did you want to do the honors?” Yang asked, she had a half smile as she offered a small grey key to the rose. Dangling from a broken metal ring was a blue tag matching the door plate.

Ruby just gazed past it, too tired to acknowledge what her sister was offering. Though her silence still yielded a half hug from the elder, stroking her hand up and down the rose’s shoulder.

“Alrighty, lets see what we got!” The blonde crossed her fingers as the key fought to turn the lock, though it yielded once Yang patiently kicked at the door’s base.

They didn’t even get a chance to see the first fault in the apartment. Instead a cloud of dust filled Yang’s lungs as the door swung open, causing her to stumble, and cough onto the squeaky hardwood that seemed to surround their entryway. Her vision cleared only to see nesting cobwebs and peeling paint on the far wall of the apartment. The only sense that wasn’t offended by the apartment was smell, but even that led to the taste of stale air along her tongue.

The corner of her eye only had only to glance at the western wall before deciding never to stray her gaze there again.

“Wow,” Yang coughed, her joke falling through a dry voice. “When they said the place was rustic, I didn’t think they meant it was from the iron age!”

The elder raced past the doorway, dropping her own bag to block Ruby. She hoped to at least first dispel the cobweb hotel that hung over the kitchenette, tearing them with bare fingers before her sister could see the grimm apartment.

“Bit of a fixer upper, but if anyone can make it work, it’s the Rose Xiao-Long sisters!” The elder called back, not noticing the spider that crawled into her hair as it’s threadlike home was destroyed. 

Yang stretched herself along the kitchen counter, pulling out what looked to be the heart of the web. She had to plug her nose when the apartment finally betrayed her sense of smell and touch, realizing that she was holding the half-eaten carcass of a mouse.

“And if not…” Yang fought the urge to vomit as her voice squeaked, “Then this will only be temporary!”

The blonde failed to find a trash can to dispose of the animal, and hesitantly rolled open and tossed it from the window. She just hoped that the thud she heard after was the critter hitting a dumpster and not someone’s car.

“So… what do you think?” Yang asked, her head poking out the wall’s hole. It didn’t seem like anyone had seen what she threw into the alleyway.

Ruby got a similar greeting from the new apartment. Her limp lungs just didn’t mind the scent of dead skin as she crossed the threshold. The world was grey enough that faded wallpaper was no different than the vibrant sky. The tight fitting sneakers didn’t feel any less suffocating than they did in the police station. Whatever energy that made her sister glow so brightly just didn’t get around to Ruby as she trudged through the cramped apartment that would not just be temporary.

Nonetheless, Ruby found enough in her to quickly cross the room and squeeze the towering sunshine in her arms.

“Ruby, hey―”

“Thank you for being so strong―”

The rose’s voice started off clear, but wouldn’t be able to finish her first sentence in hours without her voice rasping in tearful cracks.

“For both of us.” The rose wept into the elder’s jacket, but found that her grip was no match for the elder’s as Yang lifted the girl off the floor. She wrapped all she could around her sister, as if trying to engulf and protect her from the twelve days of grief that finally came to assault her.

“Shhh, Shhhhhhh. I’ve got you Rubes.” 

Ruby tried to focus on Yang’s voice as she felt herself deafen, grief blinding her to the world. For a few moments, the only sense that mattered was touch, and the warmth that forced its way into her with each quaking heartbeat.

“We’re going to be okay, and I’ll keep you safe and warm. I promise.” 

Tears pricked Yang’s own eyes, but she wouldn’t let the rose see her big sis hurt.

Not when she was the only family Ruby had left.


	2. Chapter 2

Police stations weren’t known for their vending machine selection, and whatever good choices had been there were picked out by the overweight protectors of the state. She would kill someone right now if they walked by with some yogurt covered pretzels and refused to share. No doubt such an act would land her in the holding cell across from her, next to a foul toothed man who twitched with each the flicker of the lights. It wouldn’t matter, if just for a moment things could feel normal as she sat alone. She waited for her mother to wrap her arms around her, and lie to her that everything would be okay.

Maybe just for one night she could be gullible to let herself believe it.

“Miss Rose?”

A pot-bellied officer politely grabbed her attention, offering up a bag of Mini Chips Ahoy to her line of sight.

She didn’t have to look up at the man to know it was Chief Port; the man had been invited to family dinner more times than her own uncle.

She didn’t want to look up at him, but subtly took the bag from his hands.

“After the day you’ve had, you shouldn’t have to sit out here with your grief.”

The veteran offered his hand to the girl, hot to the touch as she tried to take it.

“Oww” The girl winced, but pain turned to shock as she saw red blisters covering her delicate palm. She looked up to see that the family friend was gone. In his place was a speckled pink door, its paint tarnished by the broken bass at her feet.

She placed the wounded hand to her head as she fell back against the wall.

The window hadn’t budged. The mesh was rusted on, and had protected the glass from the instrument she would never get to use more than twice.

If she had tried the window first, she might have been able to break through. But now her lungs were too heavy with smoke.

The air grew dimmer by the second, until the last flicker of hope dispersed into darkness.

Ruby woke drenched in a grimy sweat, gasping heavily to replace the smoke that followed into reality. Unfortunately all that came to replace it was the chilling air of an early autumn morning.

Dusky sunlight broke right through the cheap bedroom blinds. She rubbed her eyes before grabbing another shirt to replace the musked pajama top, still slightly damp from a overpriced water bottle made from cheap plastic.

The room she woke in was barely big enough to fit the bed she found herself tucked into last night, her sister offering to take the stained rattan couch that had somehow made it through the door apartment’s door.

Not that they could afford to be picky.

Ruby’s still bandaged hand made its way around the door handle and into the kitchen bedroom. As much as Yang had wished to redesign the stale room the night before, all that had really changed about the apartment was a few nails in the west wall, a sheet draped over it’s lower half. A handwritten note sat on the counter, surrounded by a litter of crumpled bills and loose change.

The rose grabbed the rest of yesterday’s dinner from the fridge as her stomach groaned for breakfast. With her other hand, she tried to make out the blonde’s handwriting as she nibbled three-fourths of a mcdonald's chicken sandwich.

“Hey Rubes! I had to go to work, and you were pretty out of it when I tried to wake you earlier.”

Ruby somewhat recalled a groggy awakening that morning, but only her sister’s note and the faded lipstick on her forehead would prove that it had happened.

“I wanted to take care of these things myself, but it just didn’t work out that way this morning. So if you could tell the landlord that the radiator isn’t working it would be a big help! Other than that, I just need you to feed yourself because I won’t be home until after dark. I need you to go out and buy a few essentials for the week.”

The list of essentials that followed was much shorter than the one in their past life. There was barely enough money in the budget to feed themselves. The rest would have to go to hygiene, but Ruby doubted she would be smelling like a bundle of roses anytime soon. The only “luxury” on the list were tampons, but that definition only fit to serve the tax that accompanied them.

“Don’t waste money on the brand name stuff, not for food at least. The rest we should probably stick with the brands we know work. Love ya Rubes!”

The young woman sighed as she pocketed the note. She hated budgeting not because she was spoiled, but because the idea of spending too much on the wrong stuff scared her. Making mistakes like that could pay a much higher price than it used to.

Normally she would check that she had all her things before heading out the door, running her hands down her pockets for her phone and wallet, and taping her scalp for sunglasses. But all she had left from that life was the cold piece of metal that never left her neckline.

Leaving the apartment without a phone or wallet worried Ruby, as if her sister only being a phone call away had a hand in protecting her from the potential muggings, or worse, that she could encounter on the streets of New York. She had read somewhere that one’s keys could be used as makeshift brass knuckles, but the small brass apartment key Yang had left with her didn’t bring much comfort.

All that mattered was that there were things that had to be done, so Ruby swallowed the last of her meal and locked the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Yang was starting to regret letting her sister take the bed last night.

She hadn’t given it a second thought at the time, Ruby’s comfort was one thing that always mattered. But now Yang faced a spiteful crick that the rattan couch had given to her neck. It hadn’t made the cramped subway ride any more pleasant, nor made her feel anymore comfortable in the uniform she had hoped was sent by mistake, but found that it was neither a joke nor a size too small.

“Hi! I’m Yang! I’ll be your server today! Our special today is the biker buffalo wings!”

It was a line Yang didn’t have to memorize, she had said it enough in just that afternoon that it might as well have been tattooed onto her forearm.

“Yeah, i’ll take today’s special, and maybe your phone number while you’re at it.”

Another line she wished she hadn’t had to become accustomed to, pairing well with the eyes that followed her to and from the tables.

“Hey! Waitress! Refill!”

That was the most degrading of the pack, not a blend of emotions that the gawkers gave her, but a flicker of rage twitched inside with every snap of the man’s so easily breakable fingers.

“Coming right up!” Yang forced a smile, knowing that assaulting the man wouldn’t get her any stars for “customer service”, even if his face was desperately in need of servicing.

Besides, if she got a tip out of it, maybe she could get something tasty for her little sis tonight, and not the gas station pizza slice it was looking to be.

“Another round for you boys. Anything else I can get for you tonight?” Yang asked through a plastered grinn. She had to wait through a choir of tipsy giggles before getting a response.

“Yeah, how about you sit down with us? Tell us a little bit about yourself.” The man asked with a grin, his golden tooth blended in perfectly with his natural ones.

“Oh, sorry. But I have other tables I have to serve tonight.” Yang said, but found her wrist stuck to the man’s oily fingers as she tried to go.

“Aww, come on, there’s barely anyone else in the bar. You can spare a few minutes with me and the boys can’t you? I promise i’m a good tipper.” 

The man laughed through his slurs and toxic breath, but didn’t loosen his grip as Yang kept trying to pry her hand free. His other hand reached forward, it’s intention clear as the finger’s spread out toward her. Yang found her own fingers wrapped around his glass and doused him in it’s ichor. 

She felt a moment of relief as his hand unlatched. The blonde saved herself from the latest violation that day, only to have the victory stolen as his hand returned and swiped across her face.

“The hell you spill my drink for bitch?” The greasy man spat, and would have followed the blonde in her retreat had he the coordination to put his feet to the ground.

Yang found herself back behind the bar counter, a new spectacle for the patrons to gawk at stained her face in scarlet.

“What the hell happened out there?” A tall man demanded from behind, his presence just barely less discomforting than the man still covered in piss water. Yang didn’t bother to react as he spun her around and faced the abuse. 

“Oh geez.”

Her boss held up a heavy head in his palm, not able to look at his employee, but it didn’t stand to be out of guilt.

“Have one of the other servers cover the table, you’re clocking out for the night.”

He hadn’t left any room to argue in his voice, it was just an order, a command he laid upon the blonde waitress.

“You’re not going to call the police? He tried to grope me, then assaulted me when I tried to get away!” 

Yang’s wound matched her face as anger spread, but Junior just grimaced.

“This establishment can’t afford to lose any patrons, especially not that one.” The man took another glance at Yang before retreating back to the counter. “Would you go home already? I can’t have everyone seeing your beet face in my pub.”

If Junior understood the pun he just made, he didn’t show it as he started towards the back.

“And I can’t afford to lose a shift!” Yang called back. “If I don’t make rent, my little sister ends up on the street. Do you want that on your conscience?”

The bar owner stopped, his hand not reaching the kitchen door as it fell to his side. It then traveled to the nearby tip jar, sifting through as he counted each bill and quarter inside. Junior returned to his employee, placing the jar in her hands and removed a leather wallet from his pocket. Junior risked a final glance at her wound as he sifted through for bills, eventually stuffing two twenties in with the tips.

The waitress sifted through the jar herself, though all the money in the register wouldn’t be enough to change her opinion of the night.

“Yeah, a hundred bucks to let a guy slap me across the face. I’d make a great prostitute.” Yang spat, but couldn’t do anything other than walk off with that day’s share of earnings.

“Don’t show up tomorrow if your face is still red.” Junior called after her. “It’s bad for business!”

Though the struggle to feed her sister guaranteed she would.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby felt awkward standing between the market’s cramped shelves. Other shoppers pushed past and forced her to hug the aisle of grains as her eyes shifted back between two bags of rice.

In her past life this would have been a simple decision, but now even picking between regular and jasmine felt like a burden. The frozen vegetables, loaf of bread, and carton of eggs in her basket had been no easier to decide on. The guilt of buying non free range eggs had never felt so prickly before, but she couldn’t afford to spend the premium on their budget.

“I’m sorry little chickens.” She whispered, putting the caged eggs in her basket.

After another minute of sifting between the bags, jasmine had ended up proving favorable, and Ruby headed towards the counter.

“Find everything you were looking for today?” A young cashier asked.

“Hopefully.” The rose smiled, though it was somewhat rhy as she unloaded her basket. “On a bit of a tight budget right now.”

*beep* *beep* *beep*

There weren't many items in her basket, but it felt like an eternity as she waited for the final price to come up. She didn’t even have a notepad to write it all down with. All that she had was her mental math skills.

“The peanut butter was 1.99, so was the soy sauce. Bread was on sale today for 1.49 a loaf.”

Ruby had to double check that she had bought the discounted brand of bread as it slid across the scanner.

“That will be eleven ninety six.”

Ruby heaved a sigh, she hadn’t messed up her math.

She unwrapped the bills in her pocket and dug deeper for the change. When they all laid out however she found a two dollar bill absent from the bunch. She reached back in, only to find a receipt for tampons and toilet paper. Had Ruby read it before she left she might have gotten her money back, but instead the previous cashier would find they had overcharged her at the end of the night.

“I uh… don’t have enough. Sorry.”

Ruby looked down at her items, nerves traveling up to her face as her options were weighed. They didn’t NEED soy sauce, it just adds flavor to the rice anyway, and is full of sodium.

Even though she loved soy sauce and hated peanut butter.

“I can go run this back really quick.” Her voice wilted as she grabbed the bottle, the sauce now much heavier and thicker than it was in the basket.

Ruby started to slide past the customer behind her -who didn’t do much to help- when the cashier called her back.

“Err, Miss! I think you miscounted, you have enough here!”

Ruby turned back to the cashier, who was already printing a receipt. A neatly folded lincoln had taken the place of a crumpled dollar.

“I get my fives and ones mixed up all the time, all the money is green so it is an easy mistake.” 

The cashier sent a warm smile, trying to assure her it was okay. It took her a moment to shake off the surprise and guilt before a small smile bloomed.

“Yeah... they all look the same don’t they?”

She looked down at the bill again. As bland as the five dollar bill was, that particular one felt as lush a green as the cashier’s eyes. The cashier bagged her groceries before opening the register once again.

“Your change.”

Ruby cupped her hand, never feeling so grateful to touch the germy fingers of a stranger.

“Have a good day, miss.”

The rose took a moment to read the clerk’s name tag. “You too... Oscar.”

Ruby sent one last smile to the teen before leaving the storefront, clutching onto the bottle of soy sauce as if liquid gold. It would also make a better weapon on the trip home than the key brass knuckles, the tight streets of Brooklyn didn’t leave much room for safety and comfort. Keeping a smile in such a dank neighborhood wasn’t common either, but Ruby did her best to make the most of the day’s remaining light before the sun set on her life once again.

Thankfully, Ruby got to arrive home without smashing her soy sauce over someone’s head, and safely returned it to her bag. Even though the apartment building didn’t do much to re-enforce her feeling of safety, the snowy haired attendant didn’t pose as intimidating as the potential serial killer lurking outside the rite aid.

Still, her awkward nature led her to stand silently at the counter, waiting politely for the woman to look up from her magazine. After about a minute of shy shuffling of feet however, the girl noticed a brass bell sitting on the surface in front of her, next to a nameplate that said “Weiss”.

Her finger warily approached the instrument, a juice of timid impatience guiding it.

“Please don’t ring the bell.”

If the snowy haired woman had looked up from her magazine, Ruby had missed it.

“Right..” Ruby began. “I was hoping to talk to the landlord about the heating?”

“Not available right now.”

The line almost sounded rehearsed, but didn’t make her tone any less blunt.

“Well when will she be available then?” Ruby asked, though her timid shield lowered a little. 

“Probably between the time she runs out of vodka and when she goes to the kitchen for more.”

That time it didn’t sound as rehearsed or cold, more like it stung her to say, and wished it instead stung the red haired nuisance.

“Can you take a messa—“

“No”

“Well would you at least look up from your stupid magazine and acknowledge I exist?

No one, not even her sister had spoken to her like she was just a normal person. A trail of pity seemed to follow the gloomy girl wherever she went.

It felt good to be able to get angry.

“I’ll look at you when you stop offending my sight!”

“Wha— what does that even mean!”

“THAT! I’m talking about THAT.”

The attendant extended her arm, pointing at Ruby’s chest. She looked down at her outfit, noting the golden lab that stretched across her torso.

“My shirt? What do you have against puppies?”

The snowy haired girl’s eyes twitched, finally off the magazine and on the in front of her desk.

“I don’t hate puppies you dolt! I’m talking about your vanity identification tags!” 

The metal chain around Ruby’s neck suddenly became tighter as Weiss yanked at it, bringing Ruby closer to her gaze, which may as well have radiated frost.

“Our soldiers wear these so when they are found, their families can know what happened to them! Not so you can have an accessory that you could afford at a mall kiosk!”

Ruby found her balance and shoved the girl off her, the pleasant feeling anger had been replaced by another veil of sorrow.

She took the memento in her fingers, and traced her skin deep into the rose’s grooves just as her sister had taught her. Years of trying to comfort herself left the red mostly faded, though the stem was left mostly untouched, the depicted thorns doing justice to the sense of touch.

“They’re not fake, my mom just hated that they were grey.”

At the dull pronunciation of the word “mom”, her assailant backed off. The word brought two different flavors of the same pain to each of the girls.

“Oh”

The tension in both women relaxed slightly, their shoulder’s slumping and the angry wrinkles smoothing out off their faces.

“My sister is overseas, so I tend to become somewhat... agitated... when I see people wearing fake tags.”

It wasn’t an apology, but Ruby decided she likely wouldn’t get anything better.

“It’s fine.”

The two stood in silence, the grief introducing a sixth stage of awkward tension.

“I like your hair by the way, I didn’t know bleached hair could be so healthy looking.”

The attendant just grimaced. The ice around her was not so easily broken, as much as both of them wished it to melt.

“It’s natural.”

“Oh.”

Eventually Weiss remembered what had prompted Ruby to speak with her, and decided to focus on business.

“What did you need to speak to the landlord about?” She asked, though was tempted to just pick at her magazine again. It was never a pleasant experience to have to interrupt her mother’s drinking.

“Our radiator is broken.” Ruby sighed. “It gets really cold at night and the mornings. I had to cover myself in laundry for warmth. I don’t know how my sister dealt with it, but she’s always been really warm anyways.”

Weiss reached down into her desk counter and scrolled through a couple of folders before pulling one out.

“Apartment 204 right?”

Ruby just nodded as Weiss opened the folder, removing a stamped piece of parchment and a thin stack of notes.

“We had an inspector in there last month before we listed the room.” She flipped through the notes before sliding a creased page and a certificate to Ruby. “He said that the fireplace provided adequate heating so long as the bedroom door is open at night.”

Weiss looked back up to see Ruby’s frown, once again finding it hard to look at the girl as her finger stroked across her memento’s petals.

“Yang and I… have had bad experiences with fire.”

Weiss matched her frown, but knew her sympathy wouldn’t make a difference. She started putting away the folder. “The landlord won’t have anything fixed if the room passed it’s inspection. I can’t help you.”

Negotiations having ended, Ruby nodded and began to make her way to the stairs when she noticed something behind the attendants desk.

“You’re not going to finish that?”

Weiss looked down at her lunch, noodles and vegetables mostly untouched as her stomach protested for more.

“Unfortunately it’s inedible. That’s what I get for trying to be healthy.” Weiss sighed.

Ruby’s neck still hurt from the attendant lashing out, a mark would remain for her sister to see and document. But it didn’t stop her from reaching into the plastic grocery and removing a bottle of liquid gold.

“Want some soy sauce?”

Weiss gazed at the bottle, briefly she was enticed, but it ended up a grimace.

“I’m trying to limit my sodium intake.”

Ruby shrugged, and set the bottle on the counter.

“Then only add what you need.”

The attendant stared at the bottle as if it were a foreign object, lifting it as if expecting it to weigh nothing, and studying the nutrition label before pouring a cap of the dark sauce into the vegetable medley. The rose saw the meager amount added plucked a stray noodle from the takeout box.

“Hey!”

Ruby face wrinkled as the limey taste came out of the noodle.

“Oh yeah, you’re going to need a lot more than that.” Ruby said, before grabbing the bottle and pouring a few caps worth to the mix and plucking another stray.

“Perfect!” Ruby hummed, one of her favorite flavours soaking into her tongue.

Weiss brought back out her fork and wrapped noodles around a piece of broccoli. Sinking her teeth into it’s savory haven, she found herself unable to deny the results of the excessive amount of sauce.

Ruby planned on stealing one final piece before retreating to her room, but as her finger’s approached the attendant guarded her meal, and removed another plastic fork from a drawer in her desk.

“If you insist on pillaging my lunch you could at least use a fork.” Weiss shot before forcing the fork into her grasp.”

Ruby’s own stomach rumbled in anticipation, but her finger found themselves lowering the fork back to the counter. It didn’t feel good to take food out of another’s mouth.

“I won’t be able to finish this by myself.” Weiss assured. She pushed the fork back into the roses grasp. 

A little bit of comfort established, Ruby stuffed a bite in her mouth before grabbing a chair for herself.


	5. Chapter 5

*Knock* *Knock*

No one should have been knocking on Blake’s door that afternoon. Her payments had been on time this month, and she hadn’t ordered anything in the past few days. Even so, the delivery man at this point knew just to leave it outside, and to slide the receipt under the door for her to sign.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Just ignore them, focus on your book. If it’s important they can leave a note.”

The book in question was worn soft after many late nights of reading. Often it was observed through a small peephole made from heavy blankets to keep the ever so fleeting heat in her body.

“Chapter seventeen, a swordsman’s kiss.”

Frederick woke to find his love weeping, tear stains weaving into the bandages as the broken arm-”

*BANG BANG BANG-*

The wrapping against the door became constant, and ground against her eardrums.

Pure annoyance brought her through the thin bedroom walls and into the hall. She shoved her face against the peephole, which was almost as rare as her unlatching the door’s chain.

A small tightness in her chest reminded her of who she didn’t want to see through the hole, but seeing a woman’s face helped it dissipate, and return to her frustration. Blake ripped the chain from the door and threw it open to face the blonde.

“WHAT! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE TO BANG ON MY DOOR LIKE THIS!”

The words were already out by the time Blake got a better look, seeing herself on the blonde’s face.

“Can I use your bathroom?” Yang asked without missing a beat, and a slight singsong in her tone. “I just need to add a bit of makeup before my sister sees me.”

If the soreness was as bad as it looked, then the dark haired woman could feel phantoms of it.

“...Come on in.”

The blonde smiled as she strode past her, fake, but different than the ones she had learned at as a server. She already knew the layout of the apartment, being just as tiny and cramped as her own, though better kept.

“I won’t be long.” The blonde assured, and pulled a peach bottle and brush from a plastic bag.

Though she felt naked, having open walls in all directions, Blake didn’t feel it wise to return to her room with company. Instead she followed the stranger into the tight bathroom, finding a bit of comfort in the blonde’s false warmth. Blake watched as the blonde dabbed her fingers along the bruise with concealer, rubbing it along the socket’s edge for a minute, before deciding it would not look any better than what she had done.

“Thank you so much. I’ll leave you alone now.” Yang fake smiled again. She rushed past Blake, and had almost gotten out of ear shot when Blake called her back.

“Hey, hold up!”

The blonde peaked her head back in, the covered face almost more noticeable than the bruise.

“You aren’t going to fool her like that, let me do it for you.”

Yang’s smile faded, turning into a much smaller but honest frown as embarrassment set in. Though she followed the feeling as it limped her back back to the bathroom, where Blake had begun sifting through a bin of makeup.

“Give me your arm.”

Yang brought her forearm to the hermit, who poured a pale foundation on the tight muscles. Inside the drop another darker colour followed, repeating the process until it matched the blonde’s tone.

“They charge more for my skintone, and cram it into much smaller bottles.” Blake explained, seeing a slight look of confusion on the blonde’s face. “Mixing the bulk bottles takes longer, but helps keep the power on.”

Yang’s frown became longer; the jar of change and bills sat on the table taunting her. She would need at least twelve days like that just to pay rent, food and hygiene not included in that total. “Maybe I should invest in some of those bulk bottles.”

Blake shook her head. “There are better prices for your skin tone, you can probably stick to regular ones.”

The foundation came in small dabs along Yang’s face, but was much more delicate as Blake approached the bleached soreness. The tanned fingers were already all too aware of what spots would sting the most, and how a stray fingernail could scrape across a patch of raw skin.

“Boyfriend?” Blake asked, biting her lip as she brought out a brush.

“No. I’m not really into―”

Yang bit her tongue in contrast, realizing she was far too comfortable in her neighbors presence.

“―relationships.” She finished, and tried not to make her violet eyes seen to the darker haired woman.

Blake nodded along, pretending not to notice the hesitation in Yang’s voice as she brushed along the sore.

“Yeah. I get that.” She said between brushes. “I haven’t had good experiences with men. I prefer the comfort of women.”

Just saying the words fluttered Blake’s heart under a veil of calm. It was not just about knowing whether Yang would pick up the hint, but the reaction that could follow should the veil of sunshine around Yang just be that. Each second became longer and louder; her blood grew thicker in her veins and heavier in her heart as she watched the blonde’s eyes crawl along the counter.

She shouldn’t be playing this game, it was a gamble that always ended in loss for Blake. One loss lived just four blocks away, near the coffee shop she used to frequent.

“I am very good at comforting women.” Yang replied. Had it not been hidden by a heavy coating of makeup she herself applied, then Blake would have seen the pale rose budding on the blonde’s face. Whatever vague signal Yang had received was returned in full, and a burnt sienna formed between their locked eyes.

Why did a stranger make her heart pound harder than someone she had known all her life?

“I’m Yang by the way.”

“Blake.”

As much as she wished to continue, there was no more brushwork for the dark haired woman to do. She had to send the blonde on her way. Neither spoke as they exchanged a choir of awkward but honest glances, lasting until Yang once again found herself on the other side of the doorframe.

“Thanks.” A blush said for Yang. “Any chance we could do this again in the morning? I can pay you back for the concealer, but I can’t go to work—”

“Seven thirty.” Blake interrupted. “I’ll make breakfast.”

Blake’s order still felt like a hot breath on Yang’s neck, even across the room. A final honest smile was given before Yang turned the corner, a new kind of warmth clinging and tightening around the inside of her chest.


	6. Chapter 6

“Oh good! You’re back for dinner!”

Yang found the smell of dust had finally faded from the apartment, instead replaced by the somewhat popcorn like scent of jasmine rice on the stovetop. A pot of vegetables boiled beside it as an accomplice to the meal Ruby had prepared.

“Yep!” Yang said in the doorway. But under the noise of boiling water she put down her bag and snuck up behind her sister, lifting her up away from the rice she so viciously stirred.

“Yang!” The girl cried in the embrace. “Come on! The rice is going to burn!”

The elder held her sister a few more seconds, nuzzling a crease into her sleeve before laying her back on the floor. 

“Mwah!” A dry and drawn out kiss was left on the rose’s cheek before Yang let her get back to stirring. A few grains at the bottom would be burnt, but the blonde would be sure to take those for herself. A little bit of overcooked food was well worth the embarrassment on her sister’s face.

“I guess we got lucky with the pans.” Ruby called over the boiling veggies. “I found them under the sink. There wasn’t any rust, just a ton of soot and a few dents.”

Yang hadn’t seen it at first, but the younger sister’s face and forearms were spotted with black, and would have matched her own mark of “a hard days” work had she not dealt with it.

“Did you pick up any plates or…” Ruby asked, wondering if they would be eating out of the pan tonight. At the very least that was something not too unfamiliar, for it tended to be a habit of the once lazy rose. Yet Ruby relaxed a little as she saw Yang remove a few mismatched dishes from the plastic bag she came in with.

“I only bought two of each to be on the safe side with the budget, and I got a free cookie jar!... Wash it first please.” Yang said as she stared at the now emptied container marked “tips”. Alongside it layed a set of dishes for each of them, complete with bowls that only managed to match the apparent age of the apartment. The plates were “collectors items” featuring the faces of knock off Marvel super heroes, which didn’t exactly serve to whet one’s appetite to see “Slime man” on the bottom of every meal.

“Wait a sec, is that what I think it is?”

The mugs, Yang had hit the jackpot on, unveiling two dog print cups that predated Ruby’s birth, but still managed to remain a hidden gem among the dust of goodwill shelves. On the bottom a small dalmatian sat intently, and had brought an extra cheer to drinking morning coffee and hot chocolate.

Each had cost almost three times the beige mugs that sat below on the shelf, but Ruby’s smile was priceless. Yang wasn’t going to leave them till next time, she would just work harder to make rent.

“I also picked up a few other things, but check this out! This was a dollar!” Yang removed a shirt featuring the band “Nirvana” from the bag, and threw it on over her uniform. The fact that her uniform didn’t even resist the new layer proved troubling, and the blonde silently wished she had thought to wear it on the subway.

“Looks great sis!” Ruby gave a thumbs up before pulling the pan of the heat. Yang brought over the dishes, sure to clean them out in the skin before dressed their meals. The elder sister already knew exactly how much soy sauce it took to saturate Ruby’s rice in. She carried both bowls to the rattan couch and gestured for the rose to join her. The steam of the hot meal stung Yang’s face, but it’s taste made up for it. A long day demanded sustenance in return for it’s hardships.

“Careful, the bowl is hot.” Yang advised as she laid the bowl on Ruby’s lap, not wanting the heat to soak through the rose’s still bandaged hand.

“Thanks.”

The two dug in, the vegetable medley was slightly undercooked and balanced out the burnt grains of rice in Yang’s bowl. It added a bit of crunch that was welcomed, unlike the hardened broccoli. Neither really knew that much was wrong with the dish though. Their father wasn’t one for cooking, and most of their meals were either ordered or just thrown in the oven. Soy sauce or ketchup was drenched to make many of them edible, but being able to sit next to her sister added the most flavor of all to the blonde’s meal.

“So mmph, how was my little sis’s day?” Yang said, swallowing a salty bite of rice. “Meet anyone nice?”

Ruby suddenly found her bowl to be incredibly interesting, and wouldn’t meet the blonde’s eyes.

“The kid working at the grocery store was nice, he paid for the last two dollars at the counter when I realized I didn’t have enough. The front desk lady wasn’t so nice at first, but we ended up eating lunch together.”

The rose’s eyes briefly surfaced to see a frown across the blonde’s face. “I take it you asked about the radiator?” Yang asked, but even as Ruby tried to hide her answer the silence was all more than enough for the blonde to know what had happened. “Landlords will look for any excuse to not make repairs.”

The excuse echoed through Ruby’s head, and brought her eyes to the draped western wall, knowing the cruelty that laid behind the makeshift barrier.

“They said the fireplace—”

“We aren’t going to have to use that Rubes.”

“Okay.”

Both sisters tasted guilt with their meals, one failing to provide a basic necessity, and the other making it impossible for them to do so.

“I met one of our neighbors, Blake.” Yang confessed. “She lives downstairs and i’m having breakfast with her tomorrow.”

A blush ran across Ruby’s face. 

“Does that mean you’re… “sleeping over” there tonight?

Yang almost choked on her fork, and the blush and was quick to infect Yang’s own face. “Ruby!”

“Sorry! I just thought maybe… you were on a rebound, cuz you broke up with Terra when we moved.” More guilt crept into Ruby’s mouth, her fault that they both had to move after losing their home, even if it was at Yang’s instiance. “I’m sorry about that too by the way...”

The blonde was briefly skeptical of Ruby’s comment before a realization of horror grew in her eyes.

“Oh no! Rubes! I didn’t break up with her because of the move!” Yang pulled her sister in, crushing the unwarranted guilt in the loving squeeze. “She was on a rebound, and I had never been with another woman— nevermind. Our relationship was never stable, and the breakup was a long time coming.”

Ruby’s eyes still reigned in sorrow, so Yang continued.

“Your scholarship… Dad… they didn’t force me to leave Pennsylvania. There wasn’t anything for me there.” The hold around Ruby became a little tighter. “I want to support you Rubes, you achieved something great! I’m not going to let life take that away too.”

Yesterday’s rose might have crumbled in Yang’s arms at the sentiment, but today grief didn’t matter so much to her.

“I’m an adult too Yang. I don’t want you losing your twenties so I can be comfortable.” Ruby’s voice bordered melancholy as she spoke. “I’m going to get a job as soon as I can, but you have to promise me you won’t work yourself to the bone before I do okay?” 

The tension loosened, but no indication of an agreement occurred as Yang got up from the loveseat and threw the leftover stir fry into the fridge. The measly no name brand vegetable dish did nothing to exemplify the world she wanted to give Ruby. If they were lucky, the pan could feed both of them again the next day, but Yang was already reasoning out how many meals they could make with the groceries they had. She hadn’t wished to leave Ruby with such a small budget that morning, but would rather be a miser than find the water gone at the start of the month.

“I might have a solution to the heating problem, but you have to go get tucked and into bed first okay?” Yang turned back to flash a smile at the girl before she filled the sink with water, but realized too late they didn’t have any soap. Instead she just rinsed the gunk off the bowls once Ruby left, and submerged bowls to soak for the night. Next to her in the cramped bathroom Ruby brushed her teeth diligently, glad at least one task wasn’t hindered as the skin ran a clean stream of water to her, and the dollar toothpaste wasn’t as bad as she had dreaded, even if it was cinnamon flavor.

Once Ruby left, Yang shuffled herself and the bag into the bathroom. First brushing her teeth, then once she heard the bedroom door shut she began to unravel her makeup. The grainy concealer felt gross to remove, but once off the cool water was like a massage on her skin. Her pours closed and with them her vulnerabilities. The four walls around her, her reflection in the mirror, and the drops of coolant dripping off her chin were all that existed at that moment.

It hurt to remember that the violet irises that stared back at her weren’t real, and ate the food budget to maintain the facade. The blonde removed a crisp white bottle and case to match. As a set they cost almost a week’s worth of cheap meals, but saved her from having to reveal the splotchy red irises that her albinism had gifted. She wouldn’t be able to work if her contacts had dried up, the natural irises didn’t appeal to the “theme” the female servers were expected to follow. If she was lucky her hair dye would remain a resilient yellow for a while, and not resemble the otherwise well suited milky skin.

Leaving her disguise behind, Yang’s finger’s crept into Ruby’s bedroom and flicked the light switch, drenching both women in darkness.

“Hey, I was gonna read—”

Ruby was cut off as her spectre wove delicate fingers under the girl’s back, and brought along with her a radiance of warmth to fill the gaps in the cotton blanket’s chill. Yang’s thigh lifted the blanket and allowed a second arm to wrap around the rose, shimmying and repositioning until Yang herself was a layer of warmth against the chilling night.

“Sorry Rubes. I have an early morning tomorrow.” Yang whispered, and placed a last dry kiss for the night on Ruby’s cheek. “Am I warm enough for you?”

Rather than the expected embarrassment, Yang felt a shadow of movement against her shoulder. The rose herself adjusted to become comfortable in the blonde’s shell, and eventually burrowed her head into the blonde’s collar, a substitute for the pillow she reallocated to the blonde’s heavy head.

“Juuuuusst right.” Ruby yawned, letting exhaustion claim her in the safety of her sister’s embrace.


	7. Chapter 7

Weiss was not used to living in such a cramped space, though what was considered cramped was relative to some. Unlike Yang and Ruby’s room the walls extended far beyond the few square feet their apartment had given them, and instead she woke every day in what might be considered a penthouse if the building had been a hotel. The bedsheets she laid under had thread counts higher than Yang’s monthly salary, and came from a country only the truly wealthy were rich enough to exploit. 

Though these soft sheets were only a glimpse of the life she had left behind. Had she gone with her father in the divorce, perhaps she would not be spending her afternoons pitying tenants for a mother who refused to leave the top floor, and on most days refused to even leave her bed. The only thing that would allow for such a miracle was opening the curtains in the morning, as engaging the landlord only ever left a tightness in her throat and a sharp tingle in her eyes. It was easier to just take her still steaming coffee to go; easier to chance be burned than face her mother, and the scoldings that would surely accompany.

“Still, better than living with my father and Whitley.” Weiss reminded herself, the elevator door closing to leave any doubts of that behind her.

Out of habit, Weiss almost stepped out of the elevator early, not expecting any of the tenants to be out of bed before eight in the morning. The type of work many of them had either didn’t follow a nine to five schedule, or their occupation roamed deep into illicit nights. So it wasn’t unnatural, though still rather embarrassing as the startled attendant tripped over her back heel and plunged toward the elevator floor.

“Woah there!” The blonde managed to grasp the tip of Weiss’s fingers and tugged her back forward. Though still with no semblance of balance the shorter woman found herself under much more awkward circumstances as she landed against the blonde. Though Yang barely thought anything of it as she continued her joke.

“I didn’t realize a snowfall warning was in place!” The blonde laughed, though to most a joke of such caliber would barely deserve a chuckle. “Guess that’s what happens when I live under the ice queen!”

The familiar nickname “ice queen” made its way through Weiss’s ears and poked at her heart. The attendant pushed the tall haired woman off her as a result.

“What did you just call me?” Weiss said, but the chilling air around her formed a demand instead. Yang tensed at the sight of it.

“Hmm? Ice queen? No no no... I didn’t mean you.” She lied.

Weiss crossed her arms, biting Yang with a frosty stare that demanded explanation. 

“You’re the daughter of Willow Schnee, the landlord right?”

“Correct.”

“And my sister told me she won’t fix the radiator.”

“...This is true.”

“So! That makes HER the ice queen!”

Weiss still held bitterness in her mouth, ready at a moment to unleash it on the blonde.

“And what does that make me?” The snowy haired woman asked through ground teeth.

Yang took a moment to think of a response, for “Ice Princess” didn’t seem like an appropriate retort.

“...A snow angel?” The blonde offered, hoping to have stuck the landing. 

Weiss didn’t seem too dissatisfied with the response, shrugged, and knelt over to pick up her travel mug.

“Not the worst attempt at flattery I have seen, though it’s the first time it’s been from another woman.”

The two stood in a brief silence as Weiss took a gulp of coffee, though she wasn’t willing to admit or even give the slightest hint that it was still far too hot.

“I suppose I should thank you for keeping my skull intact.” 

Yang patiently awaited thanks, though like her sister realized later that the halfhearted statement was a former heiress’s equivalent to kindness. Weiss couldn’t be faulted for the rudeness however, her life like her coffee lacked any sort of sweetener, and just had gotten used to the bitter taste in each gulp.

“You’re welcome… I guess.” Yang muttered as the elevator closed behind them.


End file.
